The good news? Researchers have worked out a method to genetically modify cassava plants that causes them to produce significantly larger amounts of protein. In practical terms, this means that within a decade African farmers might have a staple crop that can counter protein-energy malnutrition in African children – and protein-energy malnutrition is nasty. Not to mention deceptively treatable, if you can make sure that | Read More »

Choice of phrase deliberate: one of the most entertaining things about today’s state of activism is that the Professional Left is just now starting to realize that they have somehow become the agents of reaction without ever quite noticing how it happened. Lila Rose, on the other hand? Her pro-life organization Live Action is a classic guerrilla theater operation designed to target the weaknesses of | Read More »

…oddly enough, they’re now noting in an update to their original post that, contra Senator Bill Nelson of Florida*, the lack of a severability clause in Obamacare is both: conspicuous; and a major factor in Judge Vinson’s decision. Which you already knew, because you read about it first either at MoeLane, or at RedState. And apparently, so does somebody over at ABC News**. Still, let | Read More »

At first I thought that the outrageous thing that Bill Nelson had said in this interview with Rick Klein of ABC News was that the Senator wasn’t sure whether or not Obamacare was unconstitutional (good safety tip for legislators: if you don’t know whether or not a law violates the Constitution, don’t vote for it). But what Nelson was actually saying was that he considers | Read More »

Ted is the former Solicitor General of Texas and should be familiar to long-term readers of RedState: he was one of our featured speakers at the first RedState Gathering in Atlanta. These days he’s one of the candidates running to replace retiring Senator Kay Hutchison. We spoke about the campaign yesterday: Obviously, given Ted’s background the conversation included his reaction to Obamacare’s recent drubbing | Read More »

Normally, there would be a temptation to get into the guts of this Big Government video showing Lefty and Democratic protesters at an anti-Koch brothers rally. For those who aren’t aware, the Koch brothers are the latest Two-Minute Hate object of choice among the netroots, who hate them for… giving money to conservative causes, apparently. Actually, I’m being kind: the netroots hate because the alternative | Read More »

Thomas Sowell has an article out today about the latest incidence of mission creep from the EPA. To summarize: the EPA has wide discretion when it comes to oil spills. Milk contains oil. Therefore, the EPA has wide discretion over milk spills, too – which includes requiring ‘emergency plans’ and ‘first responders’ and ‘extra storage tanks’ from dairy farmers in order to handle such life- | Read More »

(H/T: Say Anything) having St. Louis for the 2012 Democratic convention, on the rationale that having the convention in Missouri would be the equivalent of painting a big electoral target on her back for all those awful, awful Tea Partiers. Which is… interesting. First off, I’m pretty sure that Missouri Republicans – which had a decent-to-good run last year (cemented control of the state legislature, | Read More »

This story got very quickly overshadowed by world events, but last week police arrested a man allegedly planning to blow up a Dearborn, Michigan mosque with ‘high-end fireworks’*. Needless to say, the Usual Suspects lined up to try the entire “right-wing violent nut inspired by [INSERT NAME HERE]” gambit – because Obama’s Tucson Speech apparently only applies to other people, not Think Progress and/or Talking | Read More »

Long-time readers of RedState are familiar with Michael Williams, of course: he was of the candidates for replacing Senator Hutchison, back when she looked ready to vacate her Senate seat. Now that she’s retiring, Michael is officially running for Senate. We talked last week: Michael was until quite recently a Texas Railroad Commissioner, which (as Texas Railroad Commissioners soon learn to explain, over and | Read More »

President Obama’s going to be starting a push for “gun control” next month, sayeth insiders – which is a statement that would worry me more if the President hasn’t been a bit of a jinx at using the bully pulpit up to this point. I’m trying – and failing – to come up with something where his “assistance” has been a net positive: all of | Read More »

[UPDATE: ‘Amazon tax laws,’ for those who are wondering, represent attempts to get around a Supreme Court ruling regarding out-of-state transactions. Residents of states who have a sales tax are theoretically expected to pay sales tax on all transactions, not just ones that take place in-state: however, vendors with out-of-state customers have long taken the position that trying to keep track of every jurisdiction’s sales | Read More »

…when I said that the only result would be a symbolic gesture towards ‘reform’ with no real changes. It turns out that progressives didn’t even get that: their precious attempt to deny the Great Shellacking was quietly choked to death in a narrow, dusty room* Tuesday afternoon… and nothing was put in its place. Tim Noah of Slate is kind of upset about it all | Read More »

I don’t know why he’s bothering to yell at the President over this, though: the question of whether Harry Reid has the ability to get earmarks passed into legislation was abruptly settled last November. The House has banned them, and in case anybody was wondering whether the Republican base considers that ban to encompass the conference process where the differences between the Senate and House | Read More »